Ball-rolling contact for rain-signals, &amp;c.



W. E. R. RADEMAKER.

BALL ROLLING CONTACT FOR RAIN SIGNALS, &c.

APPLICATION FLLED JUNE 29, 19].).

Patented Feb. 15,1916.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH co., \VASHlNGTON. D c1 UNITED ST TES PATENTOFFICE. A

WI LIAM E. R. RA EM KER, OF-HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

" BALL-ROLLING co'N'rAc'r non aariv-sreivats, &o.-

Toiall whom it may co e 7 Be it known that WILLIAM E.- R'RADE- MAKER, acitizen of the United States, re-

sidingat Hoboken, in the countytof Hudson and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Ball- Rolling Contactsfor Rain Signals,&c.;and*

I .do :hereby declarethe following tobe'a' full clear, and exactdescription of the in vention, such as will enable-others skilled in vthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i

iThe invention relates to: a ball rolling contact for rain signals,etc."

Theiobject of-the present invention is to providea simple, "practicaland inexpensive ballvrolling' contact designed for use in coninectionwith rain signals and various other devices where a c1rcu1tclos1ngdevice 1s 20 necessary and adapted to aiford a dust, rust,

water and fire-proof circuit closing means" which will be practicallyindestructible.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical, andefiicient rain signal adapted to be operated by an accumulation ofa'small amount of rainwater and capable of: soundingan audible alarm oroperating a visual signal or 'the'like for indicating presenceof ra1n. I7

YA. further object of the invention. is to provideia rain signal of thischaracter which willznot be afi'ectedby wind so thatltheoc- .cupants ofarshouse will not beneedlessly a'rousedbyl an accidental operation ofthe" signal.

hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand pointed out: in theclaims hereto appended, it being understood thatvarious changes in the form,

proportion and minor details ot construction mayibe"resorted to withoutdeparting ,from the spirit or sacrificing anyiof the advantages oftheinvention.

Inthe .drawlng. Figure 1 is a longitudinal v sectional view: of a .rainsignalprovided with a ball rolling contact'constructed in accordancewith this invention, F1g.'2 is a transverse sectional view on the line22of Fig-1,:Fig;.3 isan enlarged. longitudinal seetional view of.theflcircuit closing device,-

o Specification of Letters Patent. t t 15, 191 Application filed June29, 1915, Serial No. 37,053.

Figs 4 is atransverse sectionalview of the same; I. a Like numerals ofreference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

' In the accompanying drawing in which is pendingmarginal flange to fiton the side and end walls ofthe casing is providedwith a centraldepending spout 5 located above a depressible tiltable member 6constructed of sheet :metal or other suitable 'materialand supported atone end by aspring 7. The inner attached end of the member has a;supporting portion 8- which is normally arranged in an inclined positionfor holding a rollingball-contact 9 out of engagement with an endcontact 10 of a circuit closing device. The said strip 6: is providedbeyond the supporting portion 8 with side flanges 1-1 and it has a' bend12 forming a container or receptacle for collecting sufiicient rainwater to cause the strip 6 to be depressed for tilting the inclinedsupport 8 and a tube or casing 13 in the opposite direction for ocausing the ball 9 to roll toward the contact 7 With these and other 1objects in view the inventionqconsists in the construction andnovel-combination and arrangement of parts 10toclose-the circuitfor'opera'tin'g an electrically controlled'signal not shown. The sideflanges of the chute portion ofthe strip or member 6 is preferablydeepened or wid ened'asshownat 14 to" provide a receptacle or containerportion of the desired capacity to depress the member 6; e The member 6will remain in a depressed conditionas long as it continues raining andwhen the rain ceases any small amount of water remaining in thereceptacle or container portion 14 will be drawn ofi by a wick 15 ofsuitable material having its inner portion arranged withinthefreceptacle' or container portion of the chute and extcndingtherefrom and depending-from aninclined terminal por ti-on l6 of'th'emember 6'; Theinclined terminal portion '16 extends downwardly and isarranged at an angle to the adjacent portion of the bottom of thereceptacle or container of the depressible member.

lVhile the circuit closing device is shown applied to the rain signal itis of course applicable to various devices having a circuit andrequiring circuit closing means especially where the latter is exposedor there is danger of fire as in factories and similar places. i Y

The casing 13 which preferably consists of a tube or cylinder having anend wall 17 and constructed of hard rubber, glass, metal or any othermaterial and provided at the other end with a closure plug 18 of hardrubber or anyother suitable material. WVhen metal is employed in theconstruction of the tube or casing it will of course be provided withproper insulating material but where glass or hard rubber is usedsuch-insulating material is of course unnecessary. When the tube orcasing 13 is constructed of insulating material it is preferablyprovided at the bottom with longitudinal strips 19 forming conductorsand constructed of suitable metal and extending through the end closureand provided with a binding screw 20 for the attaching of one of thewires of the circuit. The contact 10 which is arranged in the path ofthe ball consists of a head provided with a stem 21 having a bindingscrew 22 for the attachment of'one of the wires of the circuit. The headand the stem are designed to be constructed of suitable conductingmaterial and the stem extends through the closure centrally of the sameand when the ball rolls to the contact 10 it electrically engages thesame and the strip or conductors l9 and closes the circuit. The head isprovided witha concaved face 23 to conform to the configuration of theball and the wires 24 and 25 are connected with a suitable signal and asuitable source of current supply, not shown.

The circuitclosing device may be used as a push button and as the partsare adapted to be hermetically sealed there is no danger of fire and thedevice is water-proof, dust-proof, rust-proof, and may be maintained inproper condition practically indefinitely.

As the contacts are not exposed and will not rust or oxidizea properoperation of the device is assured and the circuit closer is therebyrendered especially advantageous for use in connection with rain signalsand similar exposed devices where ordinary circuit closers soon becomedefective or inoperative. I

In order to prevent the device from being affected by wind, a windshield 26 consisting of a supplemental chute is interposed between thespout and the depressible member. The wind shield which may be supportedby a bracket 27 or other suitable means is constructed of sheet metaland it is provided with side flanges or walls preferably formed byconcaving the wind shield transversely and the rear end 28 is extendedupwardly and the front end 29 downwardly ,to cause the water passingthrough the spout to fall into the chute portion of the member 6. A windshield will prevent any accildental operation of the rain signal throughgusts of wind sweeping over the device.

The ball may be constructed of any desired material adapted forconducting a current to close the circuit between the conductors 19 andthe contacts 10.

WVhat is claimed is 1. A device of the class described including atiltable casing provided at one end with a relatively fixed contact,spaced conductors extending the entire length of the casing and locatedat the bottom thereof to form a track, a ball of less diameter than thecasing and of greater diameter than the width of the space between thesaid conductors so as to roll upon the same out of contact with thecasing, said ball constituting a movable contact and arranged to rollinto and out of engagementwith the relatively fixed contact, and meansfor connecting the wires of a circuit with the fixed contact and theconductors.

2. A device of the class described including a casing having a funnel orhopper and provided with a spout depending therefrom, a depressiblemember having an inclined chute and located below the spout, saiddepressible member having a collecting portion located at the lower endof the chute and adapted to be depressed by rainwater and circuitclosing means operated by the said member.

3. A device of the class described including a casing having a funnel orhopper and provided with a spout depending therefrom, a depressiblemember forming a chute and located below the spout, said depressiblemember having a collecting portion and adapted to be depressed byrainwater and circuit closing means operated by the said member, and awind shield forming a sup plemental chute and interposed between thespout and the said member, said wind shield having sidewalls and anupwardly extending rear wall and a downwardly turned front portion.

A. A device of the class described including a depressible memberconsisting of a chute having a bend forming a collecting portion, saidmember being also provided with a downwardly extending terminal portionlocated beyond the collecting portion and circuit closing means operatedby the said member.

5. A device of the class described including a depressible memberconsisting of a chute having a bend forming a collecting portion, saidmember being also provided In testimony whereof I afiix my signaturewith a downwardly extending terminal porin presence of two witnesses.

tion located beyond the collecting portion, WILLIAM E. R. RADEMAKER. awick extending from the collecting por- Witnesses:

5 tion over the terminal portion and circuit LEO MAYER,

closing means operated by the said member. VICTOR J. GARIBALDI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0.

